Abstract :
WHEN Wilhelm Rontgen discovered X-rays in 1895, this opened up a new way for people to
ʹlook through thingsʹ (Rontgen 1896). While the first published images demonstrated the
techniqueʹs potential for medical uses, X-rays of Peruvian and Egyptian mummies soon
established its potential also for archaeological applications (Culin 1896; Petrie i8g8).
However, it was only in the 1930s that archaeologists began to employ X-rays for artefacts.
Since then, X-radiography has become a tried and tested tool for the investigation of
paintings, metals, ceramics, textiles, stone, and paper objects as well as geoarchaeological
applications to soils and sediments (for a useful summary, see Lang and Middleton 2005).
Among the most common uses of X-radiography of cultural materials are: (1) identification
of the object and its condition; (2) identification of manufacturing method(s); (3) identification
of material (s); (4) identification of joins, faults, breaks, repairs and reuse; (5) identification
of finishing methods and decoration; (6) identification of forgeries. Given its range
of applications, X-radiography has become a particularly valued tool among museum and
gallery conservators (Gilardoni 1994; Graham and Eddie 1985; Lang and Middleton 2005).
More recently, scholars and practitioners have been exploring the potential of other
radiological techniques, such as stereoradiography, computer-assisted tomography (CAT) and
microfocus radiography; their application to cultural material, especially regarding the study
of mummies, is expanding rapidly (Halmshaw 1995; Vandiver et al. 1991; Lang et al. 2005).
